Online fraud solution

ABSTRACT

Various embodiments of the invention provide solutions, including systems, methods and software, for dealing with unethical uses of electronic mail, and in particular, with attempts to use email messages to facilitate online fraud. Some embodiments function to gather a set of at least one incoming email message, analyze that incoming message, categorize the message as a categorize the incoming email message as a fraudulent email message. Other embodiments can investigate the uniform resource locator included with the incoming email message to determine information about a server hosting the web site referenced by the uniform resource locator and pursue a response to a fraudulent attempt to collect personal information. In some cases, responses may be administrative and/or technical in nature.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

The present invention relates to systems, methods and software for dealing with unethical uses of electronic mail and for preventing online fraud.

Electronic mail (“email”) has become a staple of modern communications. Unfortunately, however, anyone who uses email on a regular basis is familiar with the vast quantities of “spam” (unsolicited email) sent to nearly every email addressee from various advertisers. Although somewhat analogous to traditional paper “junk mail,” spam is unique in that, for virtually no cost, a purveyor of spam (“spammer”) can easily and quickly generate and transmit copious amounts of spam. Further, limitations in the Internet-standard simple mail transport protocol (“SMTP”) allow spammers to transmit spam with relative anonymity and, therefore, with correspondingly little accountability. Consequently, even though spam annoys the vast majority of recipients and, thus, generates few successful sales opportunities for the spammer relative to the amount of spam transmitted, the spam “industry” is burgeoning: Given their ability to inexpensively and quickly transmit enormous quantities of spam, spammers can make a handsome profit even from the relatively low response rate to the spam advertising.

By their nature, spammers continually search for new recipients (victims) to which to send spam. The spam “industry,” therefore has launched a derivative industry of “harvesters,” who scour the Internet and other sources to generate lists of valid email addresses, which they then sell to the spammers. (Obviously, since these activities go hand-in-hand, many spammers act as harvesters for themselves or their fellow spammers). Harvesters use a variety of techniques for obtaining email address lists, and often develop automated search programs (commonly referred to as “robots” or “web crawlers”) that continually skulk about the Internet searching for new email addresses. For example, harvesters obtain email addresses from Internet (and other) news groups, chat rooms, and directory service (e.g., white pages) sites, as well as message boards, mailing lists, and web pages, on which users commonly provide email addresses for feedback, etc.

The success of spamming in general has given rise to an even more virulent form of email abuse, know as “spoofing.” This practice involves inserting a false email address in the “From” or “Reply-to” headers of an email message, thereby misleading the recipient into believing that the email originated from a relatively trusted source. Spoofed emails often appear to be from well-known Internet service providers (“ISPs”) (such as, for example, America Online™ and The Microsoft Network™), or other high-profile entities with easily-identifiable email addresses (including, for example IBM™, Microsoft™, General Motors™ and E-Bay™, as well as various financial institutions, online retailers and the like). This spoofing is unacceptable to these entities for many reasons, not the least because it causes customer confusion, destroys the value of a well-cultivated online presence, creates general mistrust of the spoofed brands and largely dilutes the value of a reputable entity's online communications and transactions.

Perhaps most alarmingly, spam (and spoofed spam in particular) has increasingly been used to promote fraudulent activity, including identity theft, unauthorized credit card transactions and/or account withdrawals, and the like. This technique, known in the art as “phishing,” involves masquerading as a trusted business in order to induce an unsuspecting consumer to provide confidential personal information, often in response to a purported request to update account information, confirm an online transaction, etc. Merely by way of example, a “phisher” may send a spoof email purporting to be from the recipient's bank and requesting (ironically) that the recipient “confirm” her identity by providing confidential information by reply email or by logging on to a fraudulent web site. Similarly, a common “phish” message requests that the recipient log on to a well-known e-commerce site and “update” credit card information stored by that site.

The phish email often includes a uniform resource locator (“URL”) purporting to link to the web site of spoofed sender, but which actually redirects the recipient to a spoofed web site (i.e., a web site that imitates or is designed to look like the web site of the spoofed source of the email). Upon visiting the spoofed web site, the recipient may be presented with a form that requests information such as the recipient's address, phone number, social security number, bank account number, credit card number, mother's maiden name, etc. The recipient, believing that she is communicating with a trusted company, may provide some or all of this information, which then is at the spammer's disposal to use for any of a variety of illegitimate purposes.

While such activity is indisputably both illegal and immoral, the relative anonymity of the spammers, as well as the international nature of the Internet, hinders effective legal prosecution for these activities. Merely by way of example, the server associated with the spoofed web site may be located in a country from which prosecution/extradition is highly unlikely. Moreover, these spoofed web sites are often highly transient, existing on a given server or ISP for a short time (perhaps only a matter of days or even hours) before the spammer moves on to a new server or ISP. Compounding the enforcement problem is the fact that many of the servers hosting spoofed web sites are legitimate servers that have been compromised (or “hacked”) by the spammer or his associates, with the owner/operator of the server having no idea that the server is secretly being used for illegitimate purposes.

Accordingly, there is a need for a solution to deal with these email abuses.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

Various embodiments of the invention provide solutions (including inter alia, systems, methods and software) for dealing with unethical uses of electronic mail, and in particular, with attempts to use email messages to facilitate online fraud. Some embodiments function to gather a set of at least one incoming email message, analyze that incoming message, categorize the message as a categorize the incoming email message as a fraudulent email message. Other embodiments can investigate the uniform resource locator included with the incoming email message to determine information about a server hosting the web site referenced by the uniform resource locator and/or can pursue a response to a fraudulent attempt to collect personal information. In some cases, responses may be administrative and/or technical in nature.

Merely by way of example, one set of embodiments provides systems for combating online fraud. One exemplary system, which can be used in a relationship between a fraud protection provider and a customer, can comprise a monitoring center for monitoring a suspicious email activity, which itself can comprise a first computer. The first computer can have instructions executable by the first computer to allow an analysis (which can be performed by the first computer, by a technician, etc.) of an investigation of a uniform resource locator. The monitoring center can further comprise a first telecommunication link, which may be configured to provide communication between a technician and the customer, such that the technician can notify the customer of a result of the investigation of a uniform resource locator, and/or the customer can provide instructions for responding to a fraudulent attempt to collect personal information. The exemplary system can further comprise a second telecommunication link configured to provide data communication between the monitoring center and at least one additional computer.

The exemplary system can further comprise a second computer in communication with the monitoring center, perhaps via the second telecommunication link, and the second computer may include instructions executable by the second computer to gather an incoming email message, analyze the incoming email message and/or, based on an analysis of the incoming email message, categorize the incoming email message as a possibly fraudulent email message. The incoming email message may comprise a uniform resource locator, and the instructions may be executable by the computer to investigate the uniform resource locator included in the incoming email message to determine whether a location referenced by the incoming email message is associated with a fraudulent attempt to collect personal information.

Another exemplary system for combating fraud can comprise a monitoring center for monitoring a suspicious email activity. The monitoring center can comprise a first computer, which may include instructions executable by the first computer to allow the analysis of the suspicious email activity and/or the initiation of a response to the suspicious email activity. The first computer may also be configured to analyze the suspicious email activity, allow a technician to analyze the suspicious email activity, and/or notify the customer that a fraudulent email message has been received.

In accordance with some embodiments, the system can also have a second computer in communication with the monitoring center and having instructions to gather an incoming email message addressed to a bait email address. The bait email address may have been seeded at a location on a computer network likely to be a target for a third party attempting to harvest email addresses. The incoming email message may include a uniform resource locator configured to direct a recipient of the incoming email message to a web site referenced by the uniform resource locator. A third computer in communication with the second computer and further in communication with the monitoring center can have instructions executable to analyze the incoming email message and, based on an analysis of the incoming email message, categorize the incoming email message as a fraudulent email message. (In some embodiments, the first computer, second computer and/or third computer may be the same computer.) The third computer may also investigate the uniform resource locator included with the incoming email message to determine information about a server hosting the web site referenced by the uniform resource locator and/or prepare a report comprising at least some of the information about the server hosting the web site referenced by the uniform resource locator.

Further, in some embodiments, the first computer may have instructions to pursue (and/or allow a technician to initiate) a response, which may be an administrative response and/or a technical response, against an operator of the server. The system can, in some cases, include a set of at least one computer (which can, of course be a plurality of computers), each of which can include instructions executable to pursue a technical response. If the set of at least one computer is a plurality of computers, the technical response can be a distributed technical response against the server.

Other embodiments provide a computer system for combating fraud, which also may be used, inter alia, in a relationship between a fraud protection provider and a customer, and which can comprise a processor and a computer readable medium in communication with the processor. The computer readable medium can have instructions executable by the processor to gather an incoming email message, the incoming email message (which again may comprise a uniform resource locator, analyze the incoming email message, and, based on an analysis of the incoming email message, categorize the incoming email message as a possibly fraudulent email message. The instructions can also be executable to investigate the uniform resource locator included in the incoming email message to determine whether a location referenced by the incoming email message is associated with a fraudulent attempt to collect personal information and/or to initiate a response to the fraudulent attempt to collect personal information.

Another set of embodiments provides systems for analyzing suspicious email messages and/or other data files. One such system can comprise a processor and a computer readable medium in communication with the processor. The computer readable medium can comprise comprising instructions executable by the processor to parse the suspicious email message to identify a header portion of the suspicious email message, a body portion of the suspicious email message, and a uniform resource locator portion of the suspicious email message. The computer can also analyze the header portion of the suspicious email message; analyze the body portion of the suspicious email message and/or analyze the uniform resource locator portion of the suspicious email message. In some cases, the instructions can further be executable to categorize the suspicious email message as a possibly fraudulent email message.

In some cases, based on the analysis of the header portion of the email message, the computer may be instructed to assign a score to the header portion of the suspicious email message and/or to compare the score assigned to the header portion of the suspicious email message with a threshold score for the header portion of the suspicious email message. Likewise, based on the analysis of the body portion of the suspicious email message, a score may be assigned to the body portion of the suspicious email message and/or compared with a threshold score for the body portion of the suspicious email message, and/or, based on the analysis of the uniform resource locator portion of the suspicious email message, a score may be assigned to the uniform resource locator portion of the suspicious email message.

The instructions may also be executable by the computer to compare the score assigned to the uniform resource locator portion of the suspicious email message with a threshold score for the uniform resource locator portion of the suspicious email message. Based on the comparison of the score assigned to the uniform resource locator portion of the suspicious email message and the threshold score for the uniform resource locator portion of the suspicious email message, the computer may categorize the suspicious email message as a possibly fraudulent email message.

In other embodiments, the instructions might be further executable to compute a composite score based on the score assigned to the header portion of the suspicious email message, the score assigned to the body portion of the suspicious email message and the score assigned to the uniform resource locator portion of the suspicious email message; to assign the composite score to the suspicious email message; and/or to compare the composite score assigned to the suspicious email message with a threshold composite score for the suspicious email message. based on the comparison of the composite score assigned the suspicious email message and the threshold score for the suspicious email message, the suspicious email message can be categorized as a possibly fraudulent email message.

Still further embodiments of the invention provide a computer system for investigating a suspicious uniform resource locator to determine whether a server referenced by the uniform resource locator may be involved in fraudulent activity. The computer system can comprise a processor and a computer readable medium in communication with the processor; the computer readable medium can comprise instructions executable by the processor to ascertain an address associated with a server referenced by the uniform resource locator, obtain information about an address the uniform resource locator appears to reference, compare the ascertained address associated with the information about the address the uniform resource locator appears to reference, and/or, based on the comparison of the ascertained address and the information about the address the uniform resource locator appears to reference, determine whether the uniform resource locator is fraudulent.

In some cases, ascertaining an address associated with the server referenced by the uniform locator may comprise tracing a route to the server referenced by the uniform resource locator. In other cases, obtaining information about an address the uniform resource locator appears to reference may comprise parsing an anchor associated with the uniform resource locator to identify an apparent address for a server referenced by the uniform resource locator and/or to identify a trusted entity apparently referenced by the uniform resource locator. In addition, the instructions can be further executable to obtain WHOIS (and/or other) information about the apparent address for the server referenced by the uniform resource locator.

The medium may comprise further instructions executable to interrogate the server referenced by the uniform resource locator and/or generate an event report. Interrogating the server can comprise downloading at least one web page from the server referenced by the uniform resource locator and/or analyzing the at least one web page to determine whether the at least one web page comprises a field for allowing a user to provider personal information to the server referenced by the at least one uniform resource locator. Alternatively and/or in addition, interrogating the server can comprise examining the server for vulnerabilities that indicate the server possible has been compromised.

Yet further embodiments of the invention can include systems for responding to a fraudulent attempt to collect personal information. One exemplary system can include a processor and a computer readable storage medium, which can comprise instructions executable by the processor to download a web page from a suspicious server and/or parse the web page to identify at least one field into which a user may enter personal information. The at least one field can be analyzed to identify a type of information requested by the at least one field, and/or one or more sets of safe data may be generated. In some cases, the set(s) of safe data can comprise personal information associated with one or more fictitious entities. Analyzing the at least one field to identify a type of information requested by the field may comprise interpreting a label associated with the at least one field.

Based on an analysis of the at least one field, the processor may also select at least a portion of each of the set(s) of safe data comprising the type of information requested by the at least one field, format one or more responses to the web page (which may include the portion(s) of the safe data comprising the type of information requested by the at least one field), and transmit the response(s) to the web page for reception by the suspicious server. In accordance with particular embodiments, one (or more) of the sets of safe data can be associated with a financial account, and the computer readable medium might comprise further instructions executable by the processor to monitor the financial account for an account activity evidencing a use of information obtained from the set of safe data and/or to trace the account activity to identify an entity using the information obtained from the set of safe data.

In some cases, the computer may be configured to transmit for reception by the suspicious server a number of responses to the web page sufficient to cause a recipient of the responses to be uncertain which of a plurality of responses include valid personal information and/or a number of responses to the web page sufficient to indicate that the fraudulent attempt to collect personal information has been discovered. In other cases, the computer may be configured to transmit for reception by the suspicious server a number of responses to the web page sufficient to prevent the suspicious server from receiving any responses comprising valid personal information.

Other embodiments can include methods for combating online fraud, analyzing suspicious email messages and/or data files, investigating suspicious uniform resource locators and/or responding to a fraudulent attempt to collect personal information, including the methods and/or procedures described above with respect to exemplary computer systems. Similarly, still other embodiments can comprise software applications (and/or computer readable media embodying such software applications) that can be executable to perform these methods.

Merely by way of example, one set of embodiments comprises computer software applications. An exemplary application can be executable by a computer create at least one safe account, which may be associated with at least one bait email address. The application may be further executable to seed the at least one bait email address at a location on a computer network likely to be a target for a third party attempting to harvest email addresses.

In some cases, the application can be executable to gather an incoming email message addressed to the at least one bait email address, and the incoming email message might include a uniform resource locator configured to direct a recipient of the incoming email message to a web site referenced by the uniform resource locator. The application can be executable to analyze the incoming email message, based on an analysis of the incoming email message, categorize the incoming email message as a possibly fraudulent email message, and/or investigate the uniform resource locator included with the incoming email message to determine information about a server hosting the web site referenced by the uniform resource locator.

Some computer applications may be further executable to prepare a report comprising at least some of the information about the server hosting the web site referenced by the uniform resource locator, to allow an analysis of the report to determine whether the server is likely to attempt to fraudulently collect personal information and/or to analyze the report to determine whether the server is likely to attempt to fraudulently collect personal information.

In some cases an application may be further executable to allow a technician to initiate an action in response to a fraudulent attempt by the server to collect personal information and/or to pursue an action in response to a fraudulent attempt by the server to collect personal information. In other cases, the computer software application may comprise a plurality of interoperable software modules, such that each of the plurality of interoperable software modules can be executable by a different computer.

As noted above, some embodiments of the invention can comprise methods. One exemplary method (which can be used to combat online fraud, among other things) can comprise creating at least one safe account associated with at least one bait email address; seeding the at least one bait email address at a location on a computer network, the location being a likely target for a third party attempting to harvest email addresses (such as, merely by way of example, a domain registration record, a newsgroup, an electronic mailing list, an electronic customer list, an online chat room, an online message board and a list of active email addresses); and/or gathering an incoming email message addressed to the at least one bait email address. The incoming email message may include a uniform resource locator configured to direct a recipient of the incoming email message to a web site referenced by the uniform resource locator and/or may purport to be from the customer.

In some cases, the method can comprise analyzing the incoming email message. Analyzing the incoming email message may include analyzing a header portion of the message, a body portion of the message and/or a uniform resource locator included with the message. Analyzing the header portion can include determining whether the incoming message is a spoofed message and/or determining whether the incoming email message originates from a suspicious Internet domain. Analyzing the body portion can include searching the body portion of the incoming message for strings indicating that the incoming message may be part of an attempt to fraudulently collect personal information. Analyzing a uniform resource locator can include determining whether the uniform resource locator references a suspicious Internet location. Analyzing the incoming email message can also include assigning a score to the incoming email message and/or comparing the assigned score with a threshold score.

Based on an analysis of the incoming email message, the incoming email message may be categorized as a fraudulent email message. In other cases, the uniform resource locator included with the incoming email message can be investigated, e.g., to determine information about a server hosting the web site referenced by the uniform resource locator. Investigating the uniform resource locator can include accessing a set of WHOIS information about an apparent address referenced by the uniform resource locator, ascertaining an Internet Protocol address referenced by the uniform resource locator, and/or interrogating the server hosting the web site referenced by the uniform resource locator.

Optionally, a report can be prepared. The report may comprise at least some of the information about the server hosting the web site referenced by the uniform resource locator, and the report may be analyzed to determine whether the server is engaged in a fraudulent attempt to collect personal information. If desired, an action may be taken to respond to the fraudulent attempt to collect personal information.

Other methods can further comprise establishing a customer profile for the customer, wherein the customer profile includes instructions governing how an attempted online fraud should be handled. Thus, taking an action to respond the fraudulent collection of personal information may comprise consulting the customer profile to determine which of a plurality of actions to take to respond to the fraudulent collection of personal information by the server. In certain embodiments, taking an action to respond to the fraudulent collection of personal information by the server comprises notifying the customer of the fraudulent attempt to collect personal information, pursuing an administrative response against an operator of the server, and/or pursuing a technical response against the server (and/or its operator).

Administrative responses can include, inter alia, notifying an Internet service provider associated with the server that the server is engaged in a fraudulent activity. Technical responses can include, inter alia, providing fictitious personal information to the server; the fictitious personal information may formatted to be responsive to the at least one field for providing personal information to a web page hosted by the server, and/or the fictitious personal information can comprise a traceable identifier (which can comprise an account identifier for a financial account associated with the customer), and pursuing a technical response against the server can comprise tracing a use of the traceable identifier. In some cases, the method can include providing sufficient fictitious personal information to impede the use of any valid personal information received by the server and/or sufficient fictitious personal information to notify an operator of the server that the attempt to fraudulently collect personal information has been discovered. In other cases, fictitious personal information may be provided at a rate sufficient to impede the server's ability to receive personal information from any other sources.

In some cases, the information about the server indicates that the server has been compromised in a fraudulent attempt to collect personal information, and taking an action to respond to a fraudulent attempt by the server to collect personal information comprises notifying an operator of the server that the server has been compromised.

As noted above, other sets of embodiments can include systems and/or software applications, which can include without limitation systems implementing the methods described above and/or software applications executable by a computer to implement these methods.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The invention has been briefly summarized above. One skilled in the art will ascertain additional features and advantages of specific embodiments by references to the attached figures and the detailed descriptions thereof, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a functional diagram illustrating a system for combating online fraud, in accordance with various embodiments of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a system for combating online fraud, in accordance with various embodiments of the invention;

FIG. 3 is a generalized schematic diagram of a computer that may be implemented in a system for combating online fraud, in accordance with various embodiments of the invention;

FIG. 4 is a process flow diagram illustrating a method of combating online fraud, in accordance with various embodiments of the invention;

FIG. 5 is a process flow diagram illustrating a method of collecting and analyzing suspicious email messages, in accordance with various embodiments of the invention;

FIG. 6 is a process flow diagram illustrating a method of investigating a suspicious uniform resource locator, in accordance with various embodiments of the invention; and

FIG. 7 is a process flow diagram illustrating a method of responding to an attempted online fraud, in accordance with various embodiments of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In accordance with various embodiments, systems, methods and software are provided for combating online fraud. A particular type of online fraud uses “spoofed” email messages to induce unsuspecting consumers into accessing an illicit web site and providing personal information to a server believed to be operated by a trusted affiliate (such as a bank, online retailer, etc.), when in fact the server is operated by another party masquerading as the trusted affiliate in order to gain access to the consumers” personal information. As used herein, the term “personal information” should be understood to include any information that could be used to identify a person and/or normally would be revealed by that person only to a relatively trusted entity. Merely by way of example, personal information can include, without limitation, a financial institution account number, credit card number, expiration date and/or security code (sometimes referred to in the art as a “Card Verification Number,” “Card Verification Value,” “Card Verification Code” or “CVV”), and/or other financial information; a userid, password, mother's maiden name, and/or other security information; a full name, address, phone number, social security number, driver's license number, and/or other identifying information.

1. Overview

Certain embodiments of the invention feature systems, methods and/or software that attract such spoofed email messages, analyze the messages to assess the probability that the message is involved with a fraudulent activity (and/or comprises a spoofed message), and provide responses to any identified fraudulent activity. FIG. 1 illustrates the functional elements of an exemplary system 100 that can be used to combat online fraud in accordance with some of these embodiments and provides a general overview of how certain embodiments can operate. (Various embodiments will be discussed in additional detail below). It should be noted that the functional architecture depicted by FIG. 1 and the procedures described with respect to each functional component are provided for purposes of illustration only, and that embodiments of the invention are not necessarily limited to a particular functional or structural architecture; the various procedures discussed herein may be performed in any suitable framework.

In many cases, the system 100 of FIG. 1 may be operated by a fraud prevention service, security service, etc. (referred to herein as a “fraud prevention provider”) for one or more customers. Often, the customers will be entities with brands and/or web sites that risk being spoofed, such as online merchants, financial institutions, businesses, etc. In other cases, however, the fraud prevention provider may be an employee of the customer an/or an entity affiliated with and/or incorporated within the customer, such as the customer's security department, information services department, etc.

The system 100 plants or “seeds” bait email addresses in a variety of locations 105, which can include, merely by way of example, online chat rooms 105 a, newsgroup feeds 105 b, domain registration records (“WHOIS” records for a domain) 105 c, and spam feeds (which can be any source or list of bait email addresses that have been harveste) 105 d. In general, these bait email addresses are designed to offer an attractive target to a harvester of email addresses, and the bait email addresses usually (but not always) will be generated specifically for the purpose of attracting phishers and therefore will not be used for normal email correspondence.

The system 100 can further include a “honey pot” 110, which monitors each of the bait email addresses for incoming email. The honey pot 110, therefore, can comprise a device and/or software that functions to receive email messages (such as an SMTP server, etc.) and/or retrieve email messages (such as a POP3 and/or IMAP client, etc.) addressed to the bait email addresses. Such devices and software are well-known in the art and need not be discussed in detail herein. In accordance with various embodiments, the honey pot 110 can be configured to receive any (or all) of a variety of well-known message formats, including SMTP, MIME, HTML, RTF, SMS and/or the like.

The honey pot 110 may also be configured to operate in accordance with a customer policy 115. An exemplary customer policy might instruct the honey pot to watch for certain types and/or formats of emails, including, for instance, to search for certain keywords, allowing for customization on a customer-by-customer basis. In addition, the honey pot 110 may also utilize extended monitoring options 120, including monitoring for other conditions, such as monitoring a customer's web site for compromises, etc. The honey pot 110, upon receiving a message, optionally can convert the email message into a data file.

In some embodiments, the honey pot 110 will be in communication with a correlation engine 125, which performs an analysis of the email messages received by the honey pot 110. On a periodic basis and/or as incoming email messages are received/retrieved by the honey pot 110, the honey pot 110 will transmit the received/retrieved email messages (and/or corresponding data files) to the correlation engine 125 for analysis. Alternatively, the correlation engine 125 may be configured to periodically retrieve messages/data files from the honey pot 110 (e.g., using a scheduled FTP process, etc.). The correlation engine 125 can then analyze the email messages (and/or the data files corresponding to those messages) to determine whether any of the messages received by the honey pot 110 are phish messages and/or are likely to evidence an fraudulent attempt to collect personal information. Procedures for performing this analysis are described in detail below.

The correlation engine 125 can be in communication with a monitoring center 130 and an event manager 135, which may also be in communication with one another. In particular embodiments, the event manager 135 may be a computer and/or software application, which can be accessible by a technician in the monitoring center 130. If the correlation engine 125 determines that a particular incoming email message is a likely candidate for fraudulent activity, the correlation engine 125 can signal to the event manager 135 that an event should be created for the email message. Upon the creation of an event, the event manager can commence an intelligence gathering operation (investigation) 140 of the email message and/or any URLs included in the email message. As described in detail below, the investigation can include gathering information about the domain and/or IP address associated with the URLs, as well as interrogating the server(s) hosting the resources (e.g., web page, etc.) referenced by the URLs. (As used herein, the term “server” is sometimes used, as the context indicates, any computer system that is capable of offering IP-based services or conducting online transactions in which personal information may be exchanged, and specifically a computer system that may be engaged in the fraudulent collection of personal information, such as by serving web pages that request personal information. The most common example of such a server, therefore, is a web server that operates using the hypertext transfer protocol (“HTTP”) and/or any of several related services, although in some cases, servers may provide other services, such as database services, etc.). In certain embodiments, if a single email message includes multiple URLs, a separate event may be created for each URL; in other cases, a single event may cover all of the URLs in a particular message. If the message and/or investigation indicates that the event relates to a particular customer, the event may be associated with that customer.

The event manager can also prepare an automated report 145 (and/or cause another process, such as a reporting module (not shown) to generate a report), which may be analyzed by an additional technician at the monitoring center 130 (or any other location, for that matter), for the event; the report can include a summary of the investigation and/or any information obtained by the investigation. In some embodiments, the process may be completely automated, so that no human analysis is necessary. If desired (and perhaps as indicated by the customer policy 115), the event manager 135 can automatically create a customer notification 150 informing the affected customer of the event. The customer notification 150 can comprise some (or all) of the information from the report 145. Alternatively, the customer notification 150 can merely notify the customer of an event (e.g., via email, telephone, pager, etc.) allowing a customer to access a copy of the report (e.g., via a web browser, client application, etc.).

If the investigation 140 reveals that the server referenced by the URL is involved in a fraudulent attempt to collect personal information, the technician may initiate an interdiction response 155. (Alternatively, the event manager 135 could be configured to initiate a response automatically without intervention by the technician). Depending on the circumstances and the embodiment, a variety of responses could be appropriate. For instance, those skilled in the art will recognize that in some cases, a server can be compromised (i.e., “hacked”), in which case the server is executing applications and/or providing services not under the control of the operator. (As used in this context, the term “operator” means an entity that owns, maintains and/or otherwise is responsible for the server.) If the investigation 140 reveals that the server appears to be compromised, such that the operator of the server is merely an unwitting victim and not a participant in the fraudulent scheme, the appropriate response could simply comprise informing the operator of the server that the server has been compromised, and perhaps explaining how to repair any vulnerabilities that allowed the compromise.

On the other hand, if the investigation 140 reveals that the server has not been compromised (implying that the operator of the server is knowingly engaged in the fraudulent collection of personal information), other responses may be more appropriate. Such responses can be classified generally as either administrative 160 or technical 165 in nature, as described more fully below.

In accordance with various embodiments of the invention, therefore, an email message may be received and analyzed to determine if the email message is likely to be part of a phishing scheme. As used herein, the term “phishing” means a fraudulent scheme to collect personal information, often by sending unsolicited email requesting that the recipient provide the information to an apparently-legitimate server. If so, the email and/or any associated URLs may be investigated, and responsive action may be taken. Additional details and other embodiments are discussed in further detail below.

2. Exemplary Embodiments

As noted above, certain embodiments of the invention provide systems for dealing with online fraud. The system 200 of FIG. 2 can be considered exemplary of one set of embodiments. The system 200 generally runs in a networked environment, which can include a network 205. In many cases, the network 200 will be the Internet, although in some embodiments, the network 205 may be a private network. In general, any network capable of supporting data communications between computers will suffice. The system 200 includes a master computer 210, which can be used to perform any of the procedures or methods discussed herein. In particular, the master computer 210 can be configured (e.g., via a software application) to seed bait email addresses, gather and/or analyze email messages transmitted to the bait email addresses, create and/or track events, investigate URLs and/or servers, prepare reports about events, notify customers about events, and/or communicate with a monitoring center 215 (and, more particularly, with a monitoring computer 220 within the monitoring center) e.g. via a telecommunication link. The master computer 210 may be a plurality of computers, and each of the plurality of computers may be configured to perform specific processes in accordance with various embodiments. Merely by way of example, one computer may be configured to perform the functions described above with respect to a honey pot, another computer may be configured to execute software associated with a correlation engine, e.g. performing the analysis of email messages/data files, and a third computer may be configured to serve as an event manager, e.g., investigating and/or responding to incidents of suspected fraud. Likewise, the monitoring computer 220 may be configured to perform any appropriate functions.

The monitoring center 215, the monitoring computer 220, and/or the master computer 210 may be in communication with one or more customers 225 e.g., via a telecommunication link, which can comprise connection via any medium capable of providing voice and/or data communication, such as a telephone line, wireless connection, wide area network, local area network, virtual private network, and/or the like. Such communications may be data communications and/or voice communications (e.g., a technician at the monitoring center can conduct telephone communications with a person at the customer). Communications with the customer(s) 225 can include transmission of an event report, notification of an event, and/or consultation with respect to responses to fraudulent activities.

The master computer 210 can include (and/or be in communication with) a plurality of data sources. For example, the master computer can comprise an evidence database 230 and/or a database of “safe data,” 235, which can be used to generate and/or store bait email addresses and/or fictitious personal information for use as discussed in detail below. (As used herein, the term “database” should be interpreted broadly to include any means of storing data, including traditional database management software, operating system file systems, and/or the like.) The master computer 210 can also be in communication with one or more sources of information about the Internet and/or any servers to be investigated. Such sources of information can include a domain WHOIS database 240, zone data file 245, etc. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that WHOIS databases often are maintained by central registration authorities (e.g., the American Registry for Internet Numbers (“ARIN”), Network Solutions, Inc., etc), and the master computer 210 can be configured to query those authorities; alternatively, the master computer 210 could be configured to obtain such information from other sources, such as privately-maintained databases, etc. The master computer 210 may use these resources, and others, such as publicly-available domain name server (DNS) data, routing data and/or the like, to investigate a server 250 suspected of conducting fraudulent activities. As noted above, the server 250 can be any computer capable of processing online transactions, serving web pages and/or otherwise collecting personal information.

The system can also include one or more response computers 255, which can be used to provide a technical response to fraudulent activities, as described in more detail below. (It should be noted that the fractions of the response computers 255 can also be performed by the master computer 210, monitoring computer 220, etc.) In particular embodiments, a plurality of computers (e.g., 255 a-c) can be used to provide a distributed response. The response computers 255, as well as the master computer 210 and/or the monitoring computer 220, can be special-purpose computers with hardware, firmware and/or software instructions for performing the necessary tasks. Alternatively, these computers 210, 220, 255 may be general purpose computers having an operating system including, for example, personal computers and/or laptop computers running any appropriate flavor of Microsoft Corp.'s Windows™ and/or Apple Corp.'s Macintosh™ operating systems) and/or workstation computers running any of a variety of commercially-available UNIX™ or UNIX-like operating systems. In particular embodiments, the computers 210, 220, 255 can run any of a variety of free operating systems such as GNU/Linux, FreeBSD, etc.

The computers 210, 220, 255 can also run a variety of server applications, including HTTP servers, FTP servers, CGI servers, database servers, Java servers, and the like. These computers can be one or more general purpose computers capable of executing programs or scripts in response to requests from and/or interaction with other computers, including without limitation web applications. Such applications can be implemented as one or more scripts or programs written in any programming language, including merely by way of example, C, C++, Java™, COBOL, or any scripting language, such as Perl, Python, or TCL, or any combination thereof. The computers 210, 220, 255 can also include database server software, including without limitation packages commercially available from Oracle™, Microsoft, Sybase™, IBM and the like, which can process requests from database clients running locally and/or on other computers. Merely by way of example, the master computer 210 can be an Intel™ processor-machine operating the GNU/Linux operating system and the PostgreSQL database engine, configured to run proprietary application software for performing tasks in accordance with embodiments of the invention.

In some embodiments, one or more computers 110 can create web pages dynamically as necessary for displaying investigation reports, etc. These web pages can serve as an interface between one computer (e.g., the master computer 210) and another (e.g., the monitoring computer 220). Alternatively, a computer (e.g., the master computer 210) may run a server application, while another (e.g., the monitoring computer 220) device can run a dedicated client application. The server application, therefore, can serve as an interface for the user device running the client application. Alternatively, certain of the computers may be configured as “thin clients” or terminals in communication with other computers.

The system 200 can include one or more data stores, which can comprise one or more hard drives, etc. and which can be used to store, for example, databases (e.g., 230, 235) The location of the data stores is discretionary: Merely by way of example, they can reside on a storage medium local to (and/or resident in) one or more of the computers. Alternatively, they can be remote from any or all of these devices, so long as they are in communication (e.g., via the network 205) with one or more of these. In some embodiments, the data stores can reside in a storage-area network (“SAN”) familiar to those skilled in the art. (Likewise, any necessary files for performing the functions attributed to the computers 210, 220, 255 can be stored a computer-readable storage medium local to and/or remote from the respective computer, as appropriate.)

FIG. 3 provides a generalized schematic illustration of one embodiment of a computer system 300 that can perform the methods of the invention and/or the functions of a master computer, monitoring computer and/or response computer, as described herein. FIG. 3 is meant only to provide a generalized illustration of various components, any of which may be utilized as appropriate. The computer system 300 can include hardware components that can be coupled electrically via a bus 305, including one or more processors 310; one or more storage devices 315, which can include without limitation a disk drive, an optical storage device, solid-state storage device such as a random access memory (“RAM”) and/or a read-only memory (“ROM”), which can be programmable, flash-up-dateable and/or the like (and which can function as a data store, as described above). Also in communication with the bus 305 can be one or more input devices 320, which can include without limitation a mouse, a keyboard and/or the like; one or more output devices 325, which can include without limitation a display device, a printer and/or the like; and a communications subsystem 330; which can include without limitation a modem, a network card (wireless or wired), an infra-red communication device, and/or the like).

The computer system 300 also can comprise software elements, shown as being currently located within a working memory 335, including an operating system 340 and/or other code 345, such as an application program as described above and/or designed to implement methods of the invention. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that substantial variations may be made in accordance with specific embodiments and/or requirements. For example, customized hardware might also be used, and/or particular elements might be implemented in hardware, software (including portable software, such as applets), or both.

Another set of embodiments provides methods of combating online fraud which can be, in some cases, implemented by a computer or embodied in a computer software program. These methods may be, but need not be, implemented as a computer software application and/or with a computer system, including the systems described above. FIG. 4 illustrates a method 400 that is exemplary of one set of embodiments. The exemplary method 400 can include establishing a customer profile (block 405) for one or more customers. The customer profile can identify a blacklist of particular keywords that may indicate an incoming email message is attempting to spoof the customer. For instance, for a customer in the financial services industry, key words could be “loan,” “account,” “credit card,” and/or the like. The customer profile can also identify servers, URLs, domains and/or IP addresses known to be involved with phishing activities involving that customer, as well as default configuration information, such as the customer's threshold for considering an email message as a phish (e.g., relatively lenient or relatively strict), and/or the customer's preferences for responding to fraudulent activity (e.g., a preference for administrative response, a preferred level of technical response, etc.).

At block 410, one or more “safe accounts” may be created, e.g., in the customer's system. These safe accounts can be valid accounts (e.g., active credit card accounts) that do not correspond to any real account holder, and the safe accounts may be associated with fictitious personal information, including a valid (or apparently valid) identifier, such as an account number, social security number, credit card number, etc., that does not correspond to any real account holder but may be accepted as valid by the customer's system. The safe accounts thereafter can be monitored (block 415) for any transactions or access attempts. Because the safe accounts do not correspond to a real account holder, any transactions, access attempt, etc. (“account activity”) represent an illegitimate use. In addition, the safe account can be used to trace the use of the identifier, as described in more detail below, and/or to compile an evidentiary record of fraudulent activity.

At block 420, bait email addresses can be seeded to appropriate locations, as described above. The task of seeding the bait addresses can be automated (e.g. performed by a computer system such as a honey pot, etc.) and/or performed manually. For instance, an automated process could post newsgroup items that include bait email addresses, create a domain registration with a bait email address as the administrative contact, compile and/or distribute lists of bait addresses formatted to appear as a list of harvested addresses, etc. In some cases, the bait addresses may be selected to be attractive to phishers (e.g., from attractive domains and/or using English proper names as the userids) and/or to be prioritized on harvested lists (e.g., having userids that begin with numbers, the letter a, or non-alphabetic characters, etc.). In this way, if a phisher sends a phish message to each of the addresses on a harvested list, there may be a higher probability that the bait addresses will receive the phish message relatively early in the mailing process, allowing the system to take responsive action before many actual recipients have had a chance to provide personal information in response to the phish.

After the bait email addresses have been seeded, any incoming email messages to the bait addresses can be gathered (block 425), using any acceptable procedure, including the procedures discussed above. In accordance with some embodiments, for example, gathering an incoming email message can comprise downloading the incoming email message from a honey pot/mail server and/or converting the email message into a data file, which can have separate portions and/or fields corresponding to the header information of the email message, the body portion of the email message, any URLs included in the email message, and/or any attachments to the email message. Gathering the email message can further comprise transmitting the email message to a correlation engine for analysis, and/or the correlation downloading the email message.

Any gathered incoming email messages (and/or corresponding data files) can be analyzed to determine whether the message should be categorized as a likely phish (i.e., a fraudulent email message) (block 430). FIG. 5 illustrates in detail a method 500 of analyzing an incoming email message (or data file) in accordance with certain embodiments of the invention. (In the discussion of FIG. 5, the terms data file and message are used interchangeably, since the methods of analysis can apply equally to a message and a data file, which may, as discussed above, correspond to a received email message but which also may correspond to a different source, such as a news group posting, web page, and/or the like. Similarly, the other methods discussed herein may be applied to data files corresponding to such sources.) It should be noted that some of the procedures illustrated on FIG. 5 may, in particular embodiments, take place at other points in the method 400 illustrated by FIG. 4 (including, for example, gathering incoming email messages (block 400)), and that the organization of the procedures in these methods (and indeed, all of the methods described herein) is merely for ease of description: Certain procedures may occur in an order different than that described herein; indeed, some procedures may be omitted in accordance with various embodiments of the invention.

The method 500 illustrated on FIG. 5 can include time stamping the message (block 505), which can provide a permanent indication of when the message was received and/or facilitate the comparison of different messages, as well as creating a data file from the message (block 510), perhaps in the manner described above. The data files may then be collected (block 515), for instance, by transmitting the data files to a correlation engine and/or by the correlation engine downloading the data files from the computer (e.g. honey pot) that gathered the data files. (In some cases, it may not be necessary to collect the data files; for instance, the correlation engine and the honey pot may be incorporated within a single software program or program module and/or be running on the same computer.)

A data file may then be parsed or read by the correlation engine (block 520) to allow the fields or sections of the data file to be analyzed by the correlation engine. For example, the header information can be analyzed (block 525) to determine, for instance, whether the source and/or destination information in the header has been forged. If so, it is relatively more likely that the email is a phish. As another example, the routing information in the message header may be analyzed to determine whether the message originated from and/or was routed through a suspect domain, again enhancing the likelihood that the message is a phish.

The body of the message (i.e., the body field of a data file) can then be analyzed (block 530). The analysis of the body can include searching the body for blacklisted and/or whitelisted terms; merely by way of example, a black-listed term might include terms commonly found in phish messages, such as “free trip” terms indicating that the message refers to personal information, such as “credit card,” “approval,” “confirm,” etc.; and/or brand names, the name of a customer, etc. Conversely, whitelisted terms are those that commonly indicate that the message is not a phish. It should be noted at this point that the system can be configured to provide a feedback loop, such that if a message is determined eventually to be a phish, the list of blacklisted terms can be automatically updated to include the text of that message (or portions of that text). Further, the correlation engine can include heuristic algorithms designed to defeat common phish tactics, such as obvious misspellings, garbage text, and the like.

Analyzing the body of the message can include other forms of analysis as well. Merely by way of example, if the body includes a URL or other form of redirection, the presence of those devices can also indicate a higher likelihood that the message is a phish. (In addition, the URLs and other redirection devices can be analyzed separately, as discussed below). Moreover, other factors, such as the length of the body of the email message, whether the body includes graphics, etc., can be considered in the analysis of body of the email message.

In addition, if the message does include a URL (or any other form of redirection), the URL can be analyzed. For example, DNS and/or WHOIS data for the domain associated with the URL can be accessed. If this data indicates that the URL does not resolve to a domain (e.g., the URL resolves only to an IP address), the URL may be part of a phishing scam. Similarly, those skilled in the art can appreciate that phishing scams often are based from servers/domains outside the United States; as well, a particular domain may be known to be likely to host phishing scams. Hence, if the URL resolves to a suspicious domain or global top-level domain (“gTLD”), the URL may be part of a phishing scam. Thus, information about the domain to which the URL resolves may be analyzed (block 540), either as a separate step or as a part of the URL analysis. Further, in determining whether a domain is suspicious, the domain may be compared to any brand information contained in the body of the message. For example, if the body of the message includes the brand name of a customer, and the URL resolves to a domain different than a domain owned by and/or associated with that customer, the URL can be considered suspicious.

Upon the completion of the analysis (of any portion of a message, as discussed above, and/or of the message as a whole), the data file/message may, in some embodiments be assigned a score (block 545). Assigning a score to the data file/message can provide a quantitative measurement of the likelihood that the message is a phish, and in such embodiments, a score can be compared to a threshold score, such that a score meeting a particular threshold can result in further analysis and/or investigation, while a score not meeting that threshold can indicate a judgment that the email is not a probable phish. In some embodiments, the overall analysis of the message can result in the assignment of a single score. In other embodiments, each level of analysis (e.g., the analysis of the header, of the body, of the URL and/or of the associated domain) can result in the assignment of a separate score, and/or these separate scores can be consolidated to form a composite score that can be assigned to the message. In other embodiments, the analysis of each data file or email message can be performed in hierarchical fashion: the header information may be analyzed and scored, and only if that score meets a certain threshold will the correlation engine proceed to analyze the body. If not, the message is considered not to be a phish and the analysis ends. Likewise, only of the score resulting from the body analysis reaches a certain threshold will the URL be analyzed, etc.

The score values for various findings can be arbitrary, and they can reflect a judgment of the relative importance of various factors in the analysis. Further, based on the disclosure herein, one skilled in the art can appreciate that the scaling of the scores for various portions of the message (and/or the threshold scores for proceeding to the next stage of analysis) can be adjusted depending on the relative reliability of the analysis of each portion in determining whether the message actually is a phish, as well as the desired degree of precision in identifying possible phish messages. Moreover, the correlation engine can employ an automatic feedback loop, as described above, allowing the correlation engine to be self-tuning if desired for instance, if a particular factor proves to be a reliable indicator in categorizing a message, the correlation engine can automatically begin to give that factor more weight.

To understand how a hierarchical scoring system may be implemented in accordance with some embodiments, consider the following example. An email message with a forged header may be accorded a score of 150, and if a score over 100 is required to proceed to the analysis of the body, that analysis will be performed. The presence of a customer's name in the body may be worth a score of 1000, and the presence of the term “confirm your credit card” may be worth a score of 2000. A score over 2500 may be required to proceed to URL analysis, so if the message includes both terms, it will have a score of 3150 and will proceed to URL analysis. Finally, if the URL resolves to an IP address, that may be worth a score of 10000. If the threshold composite score for considering a message to be a likely phish is 12000, the composite score of the message (13150) would indicate that the email likely is a phish. (It should be noted that, while, for purposes of illustration, this example requires the assigned score to exceed the threshold score, in other embodiments, a score might have to be lower than the threshold score to meet the threshold. That is, the required relationship between the assigned score and the threshold score is discretionary. It should also be noted that certain factors, such as the presence of a white listed term, can detract from a score.)

After the analysis of the message/data file is complete, the message may be categorized as a phish (block 550). In some embodiments, a scoring algorithm similar to those discussed above may be used to categorize the message. In some cases, the categorization can depend on an overall and/or composite score for the message, while in other cases, the categorization might depend only on a score for a particular section (e.g., the body portion, the URL, etc.). Other methods of categorization may be used as well. For example, the mere presence of any particular blacklisted term, a URL resolving to a suspicious domain, etc. may cause the message to be categorized as a phish. The choice of criteria for categorization is discretionary.

Returning now to FIG. 4, once an email message and/or data file has been categorized as a phish, an event may be created in an event manager and/or a more rigorous investigation may be performed (block 435), for instance by an event manager. FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary method 600 detailing various procedures that may be undertaken as part of the investigation. At block 605, the IP address of the server referenced by a URL included in the message may be acquired via any of several well-known methods, such as a DNS query (or, if the URL refers to an IP address instead of a hostname, the URL itself).

In addition, an apparent address for the server referenced by the URL may be identified. Those skilled in the art can appreciate that a URL may be associated with an “anchor,” which can be text, an image, etc., such that the anchor appears to be the address for the server referenced by the URL, while the actual URL remains hidden to a casual observer. (In other words, the user may select the anchor in a web browser, email client, etc. to be redirected to the server referenced by the URL). In this way, the anchor may comprise an “apparent address” that actually is different than the address referenced by the URL. Both the apparent address (e.g., the address in the anchor) and the address of the server referenced in the URL (i.e., the actual address in the URL) may comprise a hostname (usually including a domain) and/or an IP address. In addition, the anchor may comprise an identifier for a trusted entity (a business name, etc.) If the apparent address is different than the address actually referenced by the URL (and/or the apparent address comprises an identifier for a trusted entity while the address actually referenced by the URL is not associated with that trusted entity), it may be more likely that the URL is fraudulent and/or that the server reference by the URL is engaged in fraudulent activity.

The method 600 may also comprise investigating information about the domain to which the URL resolves may be investigated (block 610), for instance through a domain WHOIS query. This information can show the owner of the domain, the assigned name server for the domain, the geographic location of the domain and administrative contact information for the domain. In addition, information about the IP block to which that domain should be assigned can be investigated (block 615), which can elicit similar information to the domain WHOIS query, as well as an indication of which IP block the domain should relate to. Further, the domain information referenced by the URL can be verified (block 620), for instance by comparing the IP address obtained through the DNS query (or via the URL, if the URL contains an IP address instead of a hostname) with the IP block to which the domain should belong. Any discrepancy in the domain information can indicate that the domain has been spoofed in the message, providing further evidence that the message is likely a phishing attempt.

At block 625, the server to which the URL refers can be interrogated, using a variety of commercially-available tools, such as port scanners, etc. In some embodiments, the NMAP application and/or the Nessus application may be used to interrogate the server. In a particular set of embodiments, these tools may be incorporated into a proprietary application (which may also perform other investigation, as discussed above) to provide more robust interrogation of the server. The interrogation of the server can indicate what services the server is running (which can provide some indication of whether the server is engaged in fraudulent activity). For instance, if the server is accepting HTTP requests on an unusual port, that service may (or may not) indicate that the server is engaged in fraudulent activity. The interrogation of the server may also show security vulnerabilities, which can indicate that the server may be compromised and therefore may be engaged in fraudulent activity without the knowledge of the server operator. In addition, the route to the server may be traced in a well-known manner, providing more information about the server, its location, and the domain/IP block in which it resides.

Interrogating the server can include downloading some or all of the web pages served by that server (using, for example, the WGET command) (block 630), especially any pages that appear to masquerade as pages on other servers (spoof pages). The downloaded pages may be analyzed to determine whether the pages request any personal information and/or provide fields for a user to provide personal information (block 635). Further, downloaded pages may be archived (block 660), which can allow a technician and/or the customer to view the pages to assist in any necessary human evaluation of whether the pages actually are fraudulently requesting personal information.

Finally, an event report may be generated (block 665). The event report may include any or all of the information obtained through the investigation, including any archived pages. The event report may be consulted by a technician and/or provided to a customer to assist in formulating a response strategy. In some cases, a redacted version of the event report may be provided to the customer.

Returning once again to FIG. 4, the results of the investigation may be reported (block 440), for instance by displaying a copy of the event report to a technician at a monitoring center (or any other location). Optionally, the technician may analyze the report (block 445) to provide a reality check on the information obtained in the investigation and/or to formulate a response strategy. The customer may be notified of the event and/or of the investigation results (block 450), by an automated email message, phone call from a technician, etc. The technician may also confer with the customer (block 455) to allow the customer to make a decision with respect to how to respond to the attempted fraud. Alternatively, a customer profile may indicate that a specific response strategy should be pursued, such that the customer need not be consulted before formulating a response strategy.

If the investigation and/or event report indicates that the server is engaging in fraudulent activity, the method 400 can include responding to the fraudulent activity. Any such response may be initiated and/or pursued automatically and/or manually (i.e., at the direction of a technician). Responses can take a variety of forms. Merely by way of example, the customer, customer policy and/or technician may determine that an administrative response (block 460) is appropriate. An administrative response can include any response that does not involve a direct response against the server. For example, one possible administrative response is notifying the ISP hosting the server and/or the registrar for the server's domain that the server is engaged in fraudulent activity. Another administrative response could be notifying legal authorities about the fraudulent activity and/or preparing evidence for a case under the Uniform Domain-Name-Dispute Resolution Policy (“UDRP”). If the investigation reveals that the server may have been compromised, an administrative response can include notifying the server operator (perhaps via contact information obtained during the investigation of the event) that the server has been compromised and/or providing advice on how to secure the server to avoid future compromises.

In addition (or as an alternative) to administrative responses, it may be desirable to pursue a direct technical response against the server (block 465). FIG. 7 illustrates an exemplary method 700 for pursuing a technical response against a server. The method 700 can include parsing a spoofed web page to identify fields in which a user may provide personal information (block 705). Those skilled in the art will recognize that a web form comprises one or more fields, and that those fields generally include a label indicating the information that should be entered. In accordance with some embodiments, therefore, a set of requested fields from the web page may be analyzed (block 710); for instance the label accompanying each field can be analyzed to determine whether the field requests personal information, and in what format the information should be submitted. This analysis can include a search for common words, such as “first name,” credit card,” “expiration,” etc., as well as an analysis of any restrictions imposed by the field (e.g., data type, length, etc.) A set of “safe” data may be generated to populate the fields requesting personal information (and/or any other necessary fields) (block 715). In some cases, the safe data can correspond to a safe account, as discussed above. In any event, the safe data can comprise data that appears to be valid (and in fact may be valid, in that it corresponds to a valid account) but that does not pertain to any real account holder or other person. The safe data can be drawn from a database and/or dictionary of safe data (e.g., fictitious first and last names, addresses, etc.) and/or generated algorithmically (e.g., account numbers, credit card numbers, expiration dates, etc.) and/or some combination of the two.

Based on the analysis of the requested fields, the safe data can be mapped to the requested fields (block 720), such that the data is formatted to appear to be actual personal information for a user. Merely by way of example, if a field requests a credit card number, safe data representing an apparently valid credit card number (e.g. a sixteen digit number starting with a “4,” which would appear to be a valid Visa™ credit card number) can be mapped to that field. A responsive message may be generated and/or formatted to look like a filled-out form from the spoofed web page (block 725) and then may be submitted to the server. This process can be repeated as necessary, creating a plurality of “safe” responses.

Safe responses may be submitted to the server in a number and frequency determined by a response strategy. For instance, a “respond to confuse” strategy may be employed, whereby relatively few safe responses are submitted to the server (block 730). This strategy can have the effect of introducing invalid data into the server's database, thereby causing uncertainty for the phisher about which of the data collected actually represents valid personal information that can be exploited and which of the data collected is mere garbage. This alone can significantly affect the profitability of a phishing scam and may be sufficient to prevent the phisher from exploiting significant amounts of valid personal information received from actual consumers. In addition, if the safe data is associated with a safe account, and the phisher attempts to exploit the safe data, the phisher's use of that data can be traced, and an evidentiary trail of the phisher's activities can be compiled, aiding the identification of the phisher and possibly providing evidence for a civil litigation or criminal prosecution.

If desired, a “respond to impede” strategy can be pursued (block 740). In this strategy, safe responses can be transmitted in greater numbers and/or at a greater rate. Safe responses can also be sent from a plurality of response computers, which can reside in different domains and/or IP blocks, preventing easy detection by the phisher of which responses comprise safe information (and are therefore useless to the phisher). In addition to the benefits of the “respond to confuse” strategy (which are in fact magnified under this strategy), the “respond to impede” strategy may signal to the phisher that his scam has been discovered, possibly providing a deterrent against continuing with the scam.

Finally, a “respond to prevent” strategy may be undertaken (block 745). The respond to prevent strategy can involve transmitting large numbers of safe responses at a high rate from numerous, possibly widely-distributed, response computers. In fact, response rates can be sufficiently high to effectively prevent the server from being able to accept any substantial quantity of real responses from actual consumers or others, effectively terminating the scam. This strategy can be pursued until the server stops accepting responses, and may in fact be continued in case the server once again begins accepting responses.

In conclusion, the present invention provides novel solutions for dealing with online fraud. While detailed descriptions of one or more embodiments of the invention have been given above, various alternatives, modifications, and equivalents will be apparent to those skilled in the art without varying from the spirit of the invention. Moreover, except where clearly inappropriate or otherwise expressly noted, it should be assumed that the features, devices and/or components of different embodiments can be substituted and/or combined. Thus, the above description should not be taken as limiting the scope of the invention, which is defined by the appended claims. 

1. In a relationship between a fraud protection provider and a customer, a system for combating online fraud, the system comprising: a monitoring center for monitoring a suspicious email activity, the monitoring center comprising: a first computer, the first computer comprising instructions executable by the first computer to allow an analysis of an investigation of a uniform resource locator; a first telecommunication link configured to provide communication between a technician and the customer, such that the technician can notify the customer of a result of the investigation of a uniform resource locator and the customer can provide instructions for responding to a fraudulent attempt to collect personal information; and a second telecommunication link configured to provide data communication between the monitoring center and at least one additional computer; and a second computer in communication with the monitoring center via the second telecommunication link, the second computer including instructions executable by the second computer to: gather an incoming email message, the incoming email message comprising a uniform resource locator; analyze the incoming email message; based on an analysis of the incoming email message, categorize the incoming email message as a possibly fraudulent email message; and investigate the uniform resource locator included in the incoming email message to determine whether a location referenced by the incoming email message is associated with a fraudulent attempt to collect personal information.
 2. A system for combating online fraud as recited in claim 1, wherein the first computer comprises further instructions executable by the first computer to analyze an investigation of a uniform resource locator.
 3. A system for combating online fraud as recited in claim 1, wherein the first computer comprises further instructions executable by the first computer to allow a technician to analyze an investigation of a uniform resource locator.
 4. In a relationship between a fraud protection provider and a customer, a computer system for combating online fraud, the computer system comprising: a processor; and a computer readable medium in communication with the processor, the computer readable medium comprising instructions executable by the processor to: gather an incoming email message, the incoming email message comprising a uniform resource locator; analyze the incoming email message; based on an analysis of the incoming email message, categorize the incoming email message as a possibly fraudulent email message; investigate the uniform resource locator included in the incoming email message to determine whether a location referenced by the incoming email message is associated with a fraudulent attempt to collect personal information; and initiate a response to the fraudulent attempt to collect personal information.
 5. A computer system for analyzing a suspicious email message, the computer system comprising: a processor; and a computer readable medium in communication with the processor, the computer readable medium comprising instructions executable by the processor to: parse the suspicious email message to identify a header portion of the suspicious email message, a body portion of the suspicious email message, and a uniform resource locator portion of the suspicious email message; analyze the header portion of the suspicious email message; analyze the body portion of the suspicious email message; analyze the uniform resource locator portion of the suspicious email message; and categorize the suspicious email message as a possibly fraudulent email message.
 6. A computer system for analyzing a suspicious email message as recited in claim 5, wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to: based on the analysis of the header portion of the email message, assign a score to the header portion of the suspicious email message; compare the score assigned to the header portion of the suspicious email message with a threshold score for the header portion of the suspicious email message; based on the analysis of the body portion of the suspicious email message, assign a score to the body portion of the suspicious email message; compare the score assigned to the body portion of the suspicious email message with a threshold score for the body portion of the suspicious email message; and based on the analysis of the uniform resource locator portion of the suspicious email message, assign a score to the uniform resource locator portion of the suspicious email message.
 7. A computer system for analyzing a suspicious email message as recited in claim 6, wherein the computer readable medium comprises further instructions executable by the processor to: compare the score assigned to the uniform resource locator portion of the suspicious email message with a threshold score for the uniform resource locator portion of the suspicious email message; and based on the comparison of the score assigned to the uniform resource locator portion of the suspicious email message and the threshold score for the uniform resource locator portion of the suspicious email message, categorize the suspicious email message as a possibly fraudulent email message.
 8. A computer system for analyzing a suspicious email message as recited in claim 6, wherein the computer readable medium comprises further instructions executable by the processor to: compute a composite score based on the score assigned to the header portion of the suspicious email message, the score assigned to the body portion of the suspicious email message and the score assigned to the uniform resource locator portion of the suspicious email message; assign the composite score to the suspicious email message; compare the composite score assigned to the suspicious email message with a threshold composite score for the suspicious email message; and based on the comparison of the composite score assigned the suspicious email message and the threshold score for the suspicious email message, categorize the suspicious email message as a possibly fraudulent email message.
 9. A computer system for investigating a suspicious uniform resource locator to determine whether a server referenced by the uniform resource locator may be involved in fraudulent activity, the computer system comprising: a processor; and a computer readable medium in communication with the processor, the computer readable medium comprising instructions executable by the processor to: ascertain an address associated with a server referenced by the uniform resource locator; obtain information about an address the uniform resource locator appears to reference; compare the ascertained address associated with the information about the address the uniform resource locator appears to reference; and based on the comparison of the ascertained address and the information about the address the uniform resource locator appears to reference, determine whether the uniform resource locator is fraudulent.
 10. A computer system for investigating a suspicious uniform resource locator as recited in claim 9, wherein computer readable medium comprises further instructions executable to interrogate the server referenced by the uniform resource locator.
 11. A computer system for investigating a suspicious uniform resource locator as recited in claim 9, wherein computer readable medium comprises further instructions executable to generate an event report.
 12. A computer system for investigating a suspicious uniform resource locator as recited in claim 10, wherein interrogating the server referenced by the uniform resource locator comprises: downloading at least one web page from the server referenced by the uniform resource locator; and analyzing the at least one web page to determine whether the at least one web page comprises a field for allowing a user to provider personal information to the server referenced by the at least one uniform resource locator.
 13. A computer system for investigating a suspicious uniform resource locator as recited in claim 10, wherein interrogating the server referenced by the uniform resource locator comprises: examining the server for vulnerabilities that indicate the server possible has been compromised.
 14. A computer system for investigating a suspicious uniform resource locator as recited in claim 9, wherein ascertaining an address associated with the server referenced by the uniform locator comprises tracing a route to the server referenced by the uniform resource locator.
 15. A computer system for investigating a suspicious uniform resource locator as recited in claim 9, wherein obtaining information about an address the uniform resource locator appears to reference comprises parsing an anchor associated with the uniform resource locator to identify an apparent address for a server referenced by the uniform resource locator.
 16. A computer system for investigating a suspicious uniform resource locator as recited in claim 15, wherein obtaining information about an address the uniform resource locator appears to reference further comprises obtaining WHOIS information about the apparent address for the server referenced by the uniform resource locator.
 17. A computer system for investigating a suspicious uniform resource locator as recited in claim 9, wherein obtaining information about an address the uniform resource locator appears to reference comprises parsing an anchor associated with the uniform resource locator to identify a trusted entity apparently referenced by the uniform resource locator.
 18. A computer system for responding to a fraudulent attempt to collect personal information, the computer system comprising: a processor; and a computer readable medium in communication with the processor, the computer readable medium comprising instructions executable by the processor to: download a web page from a suspicious server; parse the web page to identify at least one field into which a user may enter personal information; analyze the at least one field to identify a type of information requested by the at least one field; generate a set of safe data comprising personal information associated with a fictitious entity; based on an analysis of the at least one field, select at least a portion of the set of safe data comprising the type of information requested by the at least one field; format a response to the web page, the response including the portion of the safe data comprising the type of information requested by the at least one field; and transmit the response to the web page for reception by the suspicious server.
 19. A computer system for responding to a fraudulent attempt to collect personal information as recited in claim 18, wherein analyzing the at least one field to identify a type of information requested by the field comprises interpreting a label associated with the at least one field.
 20. A computer system for responding to a fraudulent attempt to collect personal information as recited in claim 18, wherein the set of safe data is associated with a financial account, and wherein the computer readable medium comprises further instructions executable by the processor to: monitor the financial account for an account activity evidencing a use of information obtained from the set of safe data; and trace the account activity to identify an entity using the information obtained from the set of safe data.
 21. A computer system for responding to a fraudulent attempt to collect personal information as recited in claim 18, wherein the computer readable medium comprises further instructions executable by the processor to: generate a plurality of sets of safe data, each of the sets of safe data comprising personal information associated with a fictitious entity; based on an analysis of the at least one field, select at least a portion of each of the sets of safe data responsive to the at least one field; format a plurality of responses to the web page, each of the plurality of response including the portion of one of the sets of safe data, each of the portions of one of the sets of safe data being responsive to the at least one field; and transmit the plurality of responses to the web page for reception by the suspicious server.
 22. A computer system for responding to a fraudulent attempt to collect personal information as recited in claim 21, wherein the computer readable medium comprises further instructions executable by the processor to: transmit for reception by the suspicious server a number of responses to the web page sufficient to cause a recipient of the responses to be uncertain which of a plurality of responses include valid personal information.
 23. A computer system for responding to a fraudulent attempt to collect personal information as recited in claim 21, wherein the computer readable medium comprises further instructions executable by the processor to: transmit for reception by the suspicious server a number of responses to the web page sufficient to indicate that the fraudulent attempt to collect personal information has been discovered.
 24. A computer system for responding to a fraudulent attempt to collect personal information as recited in claim 21, wherein the computer readable medium comprises further instructions executable by the processor to: transmit for reception by the suspicious server a number of responses to the web page sufficient to prevent the suspicious server from receiving any responses comprising valid personal information.
 25. In a relationship between a fraud protection provider and a customer, a system for combating online fraud, the system comprising: a monitoring center for monitoring a suspicious email activity, the monitoring center comprising a first computer, the first computer including instructions executable by the first computer to allow the analysis of the suspicious email activity and the initiation of a response to the suspicious email activity; a second computer in communication with the monitoring center, the second computer including instructions executable by the second computer to: gather an incoming email message addressed to at least one bait email address that has been seeded at a location on a computer network likely to be a target for a third party attempting to harvest email addresses, the incoming email message including a uniform resource locator configured to direct a recipient of the incoming email message to a web site referenced by the uniform resource locator; and a third computer in communication with the second computer and further in communication with the monitoring center, the third computer including instructions executable by the third computer to: analyze the incoming email message; based on an analysis of the incoming email message, categorize the incoming email message as a fraudulent email message; investigate the uniform resource locator included with the incoming email message to determine information about a server hosting the web site referenced by the uniform resource locator; and prepare a report comprising at least some of the information about the server hosting the web site referenced by the uniform resource locator.
 26. A system for combating online fraud as recited in claim 25, wherein the first computer includes further instructions executable by the first computer to notify the customer that a fraudulent email message has been received.
 27. A system for combating online fraud as recited in claim 25, wherein the first computer includes further instructions executable by the first computer to analyze the suspicious email activity.
 28. A system for combating online fraud as recited in claim 25, wherein the first computer includes further instructions executable by the first computer to allow a technician to analyze the suspicious email activity.
 29. A system for combating online fraud as recited in claim 25, wherein the first computer and the second computer are the same computer.
 30. A system for combating online fraud as recited in claim 25, wherein the second computer and the third computer are the same computer.
 31. A system for combating online fraud as recited in claim 25, wherein the first computer includes further instructions executable by the first computer to allow a technician to initiate an administrative response against an operator of the server.
 32. A system for combating online fraud as recited in claim 25, wherein the first computer includes further instructions executable by the first computer to pursue an administrative response against an operator of the server.
 33. A system for combating online fraud as recited in claim 25, wherein the first computer includes further instructions executable by the first computer to allow a technician to initiate a technical response against an operator of the server hosting the web site referenced by the uniform resource locator.
 34. A system for combating online fraud as recited in claim 33, the system further comprising a set of at least one computer, each computer of the set of at least one computer including instructions executable by that computer to pursue a technical response against the server.
 35. A system for combating online fraud as recited in claim 34, wherein the set of at least one computer comprises a plurality of computers, such that pursuing a technical response against the server comprises pursuing a distributed technical response against the server.
 36. A computer software application that is executable by a computer to: create at least one safe account, the at least one safe account being associated with at least one bait email address; seed the at least one bait email address at a location on a computer network, the location being a likely target for a third party attempting to harvest email addresses; gather an incoming email message addressed to the at least one bait email address, the incoming email message including a uniform resource locator configured to direct a recipient of the incoming email message to a web site referenced by the uniform resource locator; analyze the incoming email message; based on an analysis of the incoming email message, categorize the incoming email message as a possibly fraudulent email message; investigate the uniform resource locator included with the incoming email message to determine information about a server hosting the web site referenced by the uniform resource locator; prepare a report comprising at least some of the information about the server hosting the web site referenced by the uniform resource locator; and allow an analysis of the report to determine whether the server is likely to attempt to fraudulently collect personal information.
 37. A computer software application as recited in claim 36, wherein the computer software application is further executable by a computer to analyze the report to determine whether the server is likely to attempt to fraudulently collect personal information.
 38. A computer software application as recited in claim 36, wherein the computer software application is further executable by a computer to allow a technician to initiate an action in response to a fraudulent attempt by the server to collect personal information.
 39. A computer software application as recited in claim 36, wherein the computer software application is further executable by a computer to pursue an action in response to a fraudulent attempt by the server to collect personal information.
 40. A computer software application as recited in claim 36, wherein the computer software application comprises a plurality of interoperable software modules, such that each of the plurality of interoperable software modules is executable by a different computer.
 41. A computer readable medium embodying the computer software application of claim
 36. 42. A computer system configured to execute the computer software application of claim
 36. 43. In a relationship between a fraud protection provider and a customer, a method of combating online fraud, the method comprising: creating at least one safe account, the at least one safe account being associated with at least one bait email address; seeding the at least one bait email address at a location on a computer network, the location being a likely target for a third party attempting to harvest email addresses; gathering an incoming email message addressed to the at least one bait email address, the incoming email message including a uniform resource locator configured to direct a recipient of the incoming email message to a web site referenced by the uniform resource locator; analyzing the incoming email message; based on an analysis of the incoming email message, categorizing the incoming email message as a fraudulent email message; investigating the uniform resource locator included with the incoming email message to determine information about a server hosting the web site referenced by the uniform resource locator; preparing a report comprising at least some of the information about the server hosting the web site referenced by the uniform resource locator; analyzing the report to determine whether the server is engaged in a fraudulent attempt to collect personal information; and taking an action to respond to the fraudulent attempt to collect personal information.
 44. A method of combating online fraud as recited in claim 43, wherein the bait email address is seeded at a location selected from the group consisting of a domain registration record, a newsgroup, an electronic mailing list, an electronic customer list, an online chat room, an online message board and a list of active email addresses.
 45. A method of combating online fraud as recited in claim 43, wherein the incoming email message purports to be from the customer.
 46. A method of combating online fraud as recited in claim 45, wherein the method further comprises establishing a customer profile for the customer, wherein the customer profile includes instructions governing how an attempted online fraud should be handled, and wherein taking an action to respond the fraudulent collection of personal information comprises consulting the customer profile to determine which of a plurality of actions to take to respond to the fraudulent collection of personal information by the server.
 47. A method of combating online fraud as recited in claim 45, wherein taking an action to respond to the fraudulent collection of personal information by the server comprises notifying the customer of the fraudulent attempt to collect personal information.
 48. A method of combating online fraud as recited in claim 43, wherein taking an action to respond to a fraudulent attempt by the server to collect personal information comprises pursuing an administrative response against an operator of the server.
 49. A method of combating online fraud as recited in claim 48, wherein pursuing an administrative response against an operator of the server comprises notifying an Internet service provider associated with the server that the server is engaged in a fraudulent activity.
 50. A method of combating online fraud as recited in claim 43, wherein the information about the server indicates that the server has been used compromised in a fraudulent attempt to collect personal information, and wherein taking an action to respond to a fraudulent attempt by the server to collect personal information comprises notifying an operator of the server that the server has been compromised.
 51. A method of combating online fraud as recited in claim 43, wherein investigating the uniform resource locator included with the incoming email message to determine information about a server hosting the web site referenced by the uniform resource locator comprises identifying at least one field for providing personal information to a web page hosted by the server.
 52. A method of combating online fraud as recited in claim 51, wherein investigating the uniform resource locator included with the incoming email message to determine information about a server hosting the web site referenced by the uniform resource locator comprises downloading at least one web page from the server, and wherein the at least one web page requests personal information.
 53. A method of combating online fraud as recited in claim 51, wherein taking an action to respond to a fraudulent attempt by the server to collect personal information comprises pursuing a technical response against the server.
 54. A method of combating online fraud as recited in claim 53, wherein pursuing a technical response against the server comprises providing fictitious personal information to the server, and wherein the fictitious personal information is formatted to be responsive to the at least one field for providing personal information to a web page hosted by the server.
 55. A method of combating online fraud as recited in claim 54, wherein the fictitious personal information provided to the server comprises a traceable identifier, and wherein pursuing a technical response against the server comprises tracing a use of the traceable identifier.
 56. A method of combating online fraud as recited in claim 55, wherein the traceable identifier comprises an account identifier for a financial account associated with the customer.
 57. A method of combating online fraud as recited in claim 54, wherein pursuing a technical response against the server comprises providing sufficient fictitious personal information to impede the use of any valid personal information received by the server.
 58. A method of combating online fraud as recited in claim 54, wherein pursuing a technical response against the server comprises providing sufficient fictitious personal information to notify an operator of the server that the attempt to fraudulently collect personal information has been discovered.
 59. A method of combating online fraud as recited in claim 54, wherein pursuing a technical response against the server comprises providing fictitious personal information at a rate sufficient to impede the server's ability to receive personal information from any other sources.
 60. A method of combating online fraud as recited in claim 54, wherein pursuing a technical response against the server comprises transmitting the fictitious personal information from a plurality of computers.
 61. A method of combating online fraud as recited in claim 43, wherein investigating the uniform resource locator included with the incoming email message to determine information about a server hosting the web site referenced by the uniform resource locator comprises accessing a set of WHOIS information about an apparent address referenced by the uniform resource locator.
 62. A method of combating online fraud as recited in claim 43, wherein investigating the uniform resource locator included with the incoming email message to determine information about a server hosting the web site referenced by the uniform resource locator comprises ascertaining an Internet Protocol address referenced by the uniform resource locator.
 63. A method of combating online fraud as recited in claim 43, wherein investigating the uniform resource locator included with the incoming email message to determine information about a server hosting the web site referenced by the uniform resource locator comprises interrogating the server hosting the web site referenced by the uniform resource locator.
 64. A method of combating online fraud as recited in claim 43, wherein investigating the uniform resource locator included with the incoming email message to determine information about a server hosting the web site referenced by the uniform resource locator comprises tracing a network route to the server.
 65. A method of combating online fraud as recited in claim 43, wherein analyzing the incoming email message comprises analyzing a header portion of the incoming email message.
 66. A method of combating online fraud as recited in claim 65, wherein analyzing a header portion of the incoming email message comprises determining whether the incoming message is a spoofed message.
 67. A method of combating online fraud as recited in claim 65, wherein analyzing a header portion of the incoming email message comprises determining whether the incoming email message originates from a suspicious Internet domain.
 68. A method of combating online fraud as recited in claim 43, wherein analyzing the incoming email message comprises analyzing a body portion of the incoming email message.
 69. A method of combating online fraud as recited in claim 68, wherein analyzing a body portion of the incoming message comprises searching the body portion of the incoming message for strings indicating that the incoming message may be part of an attempt to fraudulently collect personal information.
 70. A method of combating online fraud as recited in claim 43, wherein analyzing the incoming email message comprises analyzing a uniform resource locator included in the incoming email message.
 71. A method of combating online fraud as recited in claim 70, wherein analyzing a uniform resource locator included in the incoming email message comprises determining whether the uniform resource locator references a suspicious Internet location.
 72. A method of combating online fraud as recited in claim 43, wherein analyzing the incoming email message comprises assigning a score to the incoming email message.
 73. A method of combating online fraud as recited in claim 72, wherein analyzing the incoming email message further comprises comparing the assigned score with a threshold score. 